Before filing a patent application a search was made in the United States Patent Office. The search covered United States patents in Class 47, Plant Husbandry, particularly flower holders in subclasses 41, 41.1, 41.11, 41.12 and 41.13 and Plant Receptacles in subclasses 34, 35 and 36. The search also included patents in Design Class 29, Fine Arts, Vases in subclass 28 and Plant Pots in Design Class 35, subclass 3. Also searched were Picture Frames in Design Class 6, subclasses 232, 233 and 246. In the Design Classes through unofficial publications collected by the examiner were searched as well as United States Patents.
Examples of the most pertinent patents that were found are U.S. Pat. Nos.:
342,675, Braddock, PA1 2,686,988, Garber, PA1 2,695,473, Lynch, PA1 1,518,207, McCauley, PA1 2,486,848, Huck, PA1 2,887,824, Riva.
U.S. Pat. No. 342,675, shows a board with a central aperture tipped against a vase. The face of the board forms a backdrop for a flower whose stem is inserted through the aperture into the vase. That device is quite different from the present invention, since it would be impossible to hang the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 342,675 on a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,686,988 shows a shadow box which is a planter with a surrounding frame and a backing board extending upward from the planter. The device is different from the present invention because the planter is dominant, and it would be impossible to reverse the device and to hang it against the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,695,473 describes a plate holder with a rearward mounted water take for mounting on a wall. The flowers or greenery extend around the plate rather than through the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,518,207 discloses a picture mount with a hole in the back for inserting a flower vial. That is not the same as the present invention.
Of interest for its showing of a vase mounted on a board in U.S. Pat. No. 338,845. In that patent the vase is mounted in front of the board which is mounted on an easel-like device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,824 shows a vase mounted on a framed surface, such as a window. That vase is different from the present invention, because it requires a window for a part of the vase, and because it is mounted on a frontal side of a window.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,848 illustrates a coat lapel with a buttonhole, through which a flower stem is inserted. The stem is lodged in a vial having a pin for pinning on the rear of a coat lapel.
None of those patents shows or suggests the present invention.
A need exists for a decorative flower vase which lies flat against a vertical surface and which may be hung on a wall to support flowers flat against a wall.